Page 1 of Nick: His to Claim

Chapter One

Nicholas Kord leaned lazily against the pickup truck. He never flinched when Maggie Cassidy’s hard hat went whizzing past his ear. His long legs were crossed as his strong arm deflected the missile, his eyes never leaving the petite auburn-haired beauty. Nods and elbows passed around the work site, and Maggie knew the attention of every man there was focused on her.

She had been foreman at Kord Contracting for a long time. Smart and hardworking, she demanded the best from her crew. Those traits earned her the respect of her coworkers, but she’d never been hot-headed or lost her temper on the job. Her professional attitude had kept more than one of the crew from pursuing her after her husband died. Maggie was a beautiful woman, but she made it crystal clear that she was not interested in a personal relationship. Now here she was, hurling her hard hat at the boss’s brother. Her clipboard hit the dirt as she stomped over to face him.

Most of the men had met Nick at one time or another, but lately he’d been hanging around a lot. Most often, Maggie nodded icily and ignored him, but not today.

Several hats were shoved back, and all work slowed as ears strained to hear their conversation. Maggie never noticed, but Nick did. When she came closer, his hand shot out with whipcord strength, and Maggie found herself hauled around to the other side of the truck before she could get a word out.

Pinned effectively against the dusty pickup, Maggie shoved at the strong arms on either side of her, but Nick just grinned and leaned down to speak into her ear.

“Maggie, Maggie, you’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

Struggling for breath, she brought up both her hands and shoved so hard against the muscular chest in front of her that she lost her balance.

Nick was not one to miss an opportunity. Quickly moving in closer, he brought his hard body into contact with hers from knee to shoulder and trapped her hands between them.

If Maggie had been out of breath before, her head was swimming now. Heat penetrated every pore. The feel of his hips pressed against her belly stole every rational thought, and her struggles ceased. Her hands unconsciously gripped his shirt and hung on for dear life as her knees turned to jelly. In desperation, she tipped her head back, amber eyes pleading with icy blue ones.

“Please,” she whispered hoarsely.

Nick froze. He stared down at the woman before him. A pulse beat rapidly at the hollow of her slender throat. Her body quivered against his, and while he could sense the desire flowing through her, he could almost taste the fear.

Shoving away from her with a curse, Nick raked a hand through his glossy, black hair. He paced several yards away, bent down, picked up a handful of rocks, and began throwing them one at a time. Muscles bunched and rippled as again and again the rocks sailed far into the empty lot.

Maggie failed to see the humor in a grown man reduced to throwing stones to relieve his frustration, but more than one of her crew smiled as though they understood completely. Several breathed a sigh of relief and went quietly back to work.

When he had exhausted his supply of stones, Nick wiped his hands on his jeans and stuffed them deep into his pockets before he approached her. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth, and Maggie saw the tic in his cheek.

Dear God, she thought, this isn’t fair. The closer he got to her, the more her heart rate increased. The few minutes she had to compose herself might never have been, now that he was in front of her again. Her eyes searched the rugged planes of his face, looking for, if not sympathy, at least understanding. All she saw was determination and anger.

“God damn it, Maggie. It doesn’t have to be like this,” he ground out, mere inches from her now.

Maggie swallowed. This wasn’t the first time Nick had confronted her. Ever since Christmas, when he first set eyes on Jason, he dogged her every move. Endlessly calling, pleading, and threatening. It had to stop. She couldn’t go on like this. Her home life was affected, the children sensed her turmoil, and now she couldn’t even do her job.

“Nick,” she began softly. “I don’t know what you want from me?—”

“The hell you don’t,” he growled. “I want the truth, Maggie. The truth you denied me fifteen years ago. Do you knowthattruth Maggie, or have you lied for so long that you don’t remember? Have you forgotten how it was for us? Have you forgotten the passion, the fire, the love? I sure as hell haven’t. We had a son, and damn you, Maggie, you kept him from me.”

The hands pushed so deeply in his pockets were now somehow fastened on her shoulders. It was all he could do not to shake her, so great was his pain. The fact that they’d spentNew Year’s Eve locked in each other’s arms was the only thing that kept him from throwing her over his shoulder right now and carting her off somewhere more private. She hadn’t told him fifteen years ago that she was pregnant; how could he trust her to tell him if she were in the same condition now? They hadn’t used any protection—they hadn’t had time. He’d stopped in to give her a message from his brother, and before he knew it they were on the couch like a couple of teenagers. Well, he knew one thing. The passion was still there, even if they were at war.

“Ihad a son. Me! Jason ismyson,” she shouted, not caring who overheard them, fury in every line of her body. “How dare you stroll into my life like you never left, demanding and accusing? I gave Jason something you never did—a father, and if he were still alive none of this would be happening.”

Maggie was crying; tears streamed down her face, and her small body trembled.

Her words tore at Nick’s heart, and for a moment he almost surrendered. Maybe she had done what she thought was right at the time. He couldn’t deny that Jim Cassidy had been a good man, but as far as he was concerned they’d built their marriage on a lie, a lie that had cost Nick dearly.

“You never gave me a chance, Maggie,” he roared in frustration. “I never even suspected. One minute we were going to be married, and the next you up and married Jim.”

“I wrote you,” she shot back, wiping the back of her hand across her damp cheeks. “I wrote you more than once. You sent every damn letter back.”

“I know, and I was wrong, but I saw you and Jim together. You were crying in his arms, telling him you didn’t know how to tell me something. What the hell was I supposed to think?”

“You weren’t supposed to think anything. You were supposed to love me, trust me,” she cried, turning her back to him as she struggled for control.

Nick let her go. She was right. He hadn’t trusted her, but damn it he had been twenty-one years old, and to find her in another man’s arms had almost killed him.

“Maggie, we’ve both made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we have to go on making them,” he said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Can’t we start over? The feelings are still there, you can’t deny that.”